Biomedical marker molecules for cancer – current status and perspectives

Driven by the development of new techniques, such as DNA microarrays, mass spectroscopy, tissue microarrays or protein chips, a large number of biomarkers have been identified in the past few years with the aim to classify cancer subtypes or to predict disease progression or therapeutic response. However, few of the described markers have been developed into clinically validated diagnostic tools. This review provides an overview of recent cancer biomarker developments and the difficulties of moving biomarkers from basic research into the clinic.